if it snows tomorrow

Clever Pun

Will you be cycling in? I want to but will have to asses how bad it it first

any tips about surviving if you've done it before?

Totalnewbie

I use mainly main roads so I would imagine they'll be ok and will give it a go (I remember walking home a few years ago when a few inches of snow brought the city to a standstill and would rather avoid if poss).

The only bit I don't know about is the Hyde Park cycle path, which I posted about just now.

Mog Uk

Just been thinking this myself. We don't normally get much snow at home ( Stockport ) but Macclesfield where I work does.... I may chuck the knobby tyres back on the MTB and use that if the snow hits, should be good fun......

CheapSkate

No reason not to ride in snow, unless it's blowing horizontally too, and even then it's great fun if you have the time to take it easy, and a route that's not too far and that you can use sensibly.

Just do everything more slowly and less drastically, by which I mean take a long curve rather than cut the apex of the bend, and no sudden stops or changes of direction. And especially watch out for iced over manhole covers and white paint lines - if anyone has driven, there are usually clear tyre track lines to follow, and it's better to get on damp tarmac than compacted snow.

Doom

Clever Pun wrote:

Will you be cycling in? I want to but will have to asses how bad it it first

any tips about surviving if you've done it before?

Would rather be on the bike than on the faltering public transport. Having said that I will most likely get the mountain bike with slicks out instead of the usual single speed. Just for the bigger contact patch methinks.

Lesson learnt from last year is to NOT ride in any car tyre tracks as they were compacted snow i.e. ice!!

Gussio

Fresh snow should be OK as the London roads are normally well gritted, with heavy traffic and heat from underground pipes, services, etc. helping to reduce accumulation. Where things go horribly wrong is if there is a cold snap during the night and all that slushy stuff freezes - the following morning can be very dicey indeed. I remember this happening 4 or 5 years ago and it was lethal. All the ridges of slush set solid and there was black ice everywhere. Woe betide you if a wheel touched either. The traffic was gridlocked and I pushed my bike a good portion of the journey, regretting not staying at home.

homercles

Hoping to be able to make it in on the bike, but might be going with the MTB if it looks at all like settling. Yes, chunky tyres will be annoying over a 10 mile commute but rather that than stacking it on my new bike!

Clever Pun

I've got the choice of my roadie or my knackered piece o cr@p hybrid... tricky call.

cheers for the heads up Doom, you'r right ice is bad...

I'm just hoping it all a fuss about nothing

jopari

Not cycled in the snow since I was a kid. Are knobblies better than thinly treaded Hybrid tyres?
I might consider the canal path rather than the road, but an icy bath would put a downer on my day.

jefferee

Knobbies give better traction in snow than slicks. Even then, stopping can be a bit of an adventure if the surface beneath is slippery. I find snow that's been rutted up by cars (such as the suburban street where I live) to be a little treacherous and try to stick to well-plowed (and gritted) major streets.

Ice is something to avoid unless you have studded tires--this morning I (re)discovered that my studded tires get better grip on ice than the soles of my winter boots when I put a foot down at the first stop sign on my route. :shock:

It was -14 C where I live this morning, btw--tied for my coldest ride of the winter so far!

dirk_van_gently

I hope we get some in east anglia, most of the car drivers here are muppets, and the roads wil grind to a standstill, whilst I sail sedately by, or fall on my @rse :-D. I have a CX bike, should be interesting to see how it copes. Worst case, there is an off road route, but it's heavy work normally, so may be really difficult in the snow.

dirk_van_gently

jefferee wrote

It was -14 C where I live this morning

I have experienced -18C, it made it difficult to breath :-(

Bassjunkieuk

I had a short ride home once in the snow about 3 or 4 years ago and thoroughly loved it! I was working at a large retail store at the time and only lived about 3 miles away. My commute was normally about 15 minutes, and that was on a heavy full susser from Halfords (still got it luckily, so if weather does change tomorrow I have a backup :-S)

After I managed to pull myself away from doing massive skids and doughnuts in the car park (the snow was still fresh and no cars had ventured out all afternoon!) I set off home at a more leisurely pace then normal and took about 30-40 minutes.

Not bad time considering most work mates who used cars or PT had their journey times at least quadrupled!

Luckily tomorrow I'm at a nice local site, about 2.5 miles away from my home, the snow isn't due until the afternoon so I'm just keeping my fingers crossed I don't get caught as I could be heading back out of London at that point!!

But then with our lovely weather it'll probably only last an hour then we'll get bright sun to melt it all!

Magnus Thor

Here, people have been on studded tires for the last two months! And I'll be using the mtb for the next 3 or 4 months more. Temperatures around -10 C, high winds, rain, sleet or snow are just facts of life here...


Magnus Thor
Iceland

Anonymous

I've pedaled in snow for years, and love it. Something to consider....as long as the temp is below freezing, your traction factor is good. Before you jump on the bike, put it outside for as long as it takes to get as cold as the surrounding air. Doing so will insure that you have best tire to snow grip from the start. Believe me, I know, I love pedaling in the snow, and scientifically, this is sound advice. Usually, an hour in the cold air will chill the bike to the right temp before you ride. Warm tires melt snow and ice, therefore, they slide.

Plax

I would cycle to work in the snow, but according to the weather forecast the wind is going to be at 25mph with gusts of up to 41mph. So that might well just put me off. 67% snow risk though - yeah!!!!!

dav1

will probably cycle tomorrow, i have the main road option and use my MTB so the tyres should hack it easily.

simon_e

I rode on the one snowy day here last year. It was a bit sketchy (though slushy) going home, the journey took me an hour, about twice as long as normal. I soon established that car wheeltracks were safer than the fresh snow in between.

TBH I think it would have been more perilous and frustrating in the car. I passed one long queue of virtually stationary cars all the way out of town, must have been 2 miles long. Smug? Me? Never!

A colleague took over 2.5 hours to do a similar but even shorter 5 miles in his Hyundai Santa Fe 4x4. I don't know if he gained anything from the extra grip it might provide as it was slippery everywhere, but he spent most of the time sat in queues. <snigger>

Have some cheapo no-name knobblies already fitted in readiness.

prj45

I'm itching to ride in tomorrow, first time back on for a week or so.

Snow starts at around 8am if they've got if right, I should be in the shower at work by then.

farrell

I'm staying in.........all day.

prj45

Opps, its 06:39 and I've not left the house yet, might be bumping into some snow...

dirk_van_gently

no snow here in East Anglia yet, well nothing but a few VERY light flurries.
Bloody cold, cold cold, and quite windy, and the wind was on my back on the way here, so the trip home could be "interesting" :shock:

Mog Uk

Snowing in Macclesfield, it just started as I got to the office, should make for an interesting ride home if it sticks ( doubt it )

Found it strangely hypnotic cycling along and the snow flashing past the beam of my light....

el_presidente

Snow my arse

In London I reckon it was much colder in that spell in December.

Totalnewbie

Well I'm in, will have to see what happens this afternoon!

Boyfriend was making wimpy noises about leaving the bike at home but I think I shamed him into getting on his bike (that and the fact he got new winter gloves and an Air Zound from me for Xmas so it would be rude not to use them).

el_presidente

Well there is precipitation heading north over the channel

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/radar/index.html

but the temp in London is already 2.5 deg C and rising

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/ ... ather.html

therefore I predict rain only, from around 13.00 in Central London

homercles

el_presidente wrote:

Snow my ars*

In London I reckon it was much colder in that spell in December.

Agreed - my hands were numb then, today the cold didn't really register.

georgee

Bugger all snow on my route and I agree, once moving it really wasn’t that cold, much colder just before Christmas. Very dry out there though so if it does I think it will stick. The beeb weather map is as clear as mud, shows lots of little areas of snow rather than a solid load hitting the SE. My commute was more screwed by burnt out hospitals.

Gussio

homercles wrote:

Agreed - my hands were numb then, today the cold didn't really register.

Maybe you are toughening up?

The wind this morning made it feel a lot colder than the 2C on the thermometer. As luck would have it, it was a headwind so I soon warmed up :?

dav1

my hands stay fine thanks to my winter MTB gloves, keep the effects of the wind at bay with ease.

hamboman

georgee wrote:

Bugger all snow on my route and I agree, once moving it really wasn’t that cold, much colder just before Christmas. Very dry out there though so if it does I think it will stick. The beeb weather map is as clear as mud, shows lots of little areas of snow rather than a solid load hitting the SE. My commute was more screwed by burnt out hospitals.

Yeah I usually go past the Marsden, had to scoot up some side streets - when do they think they'll reopen the road?